During 2011, Bruce Peninsula OPP responded to 260 false 911 Hang-up calls on the Peninsula.  Put another way, 4.1 % of all the calls for service on the Bruce Peninsula were false 911 calls.

Many of these calls were accidentally made. “Pocket dials” where a cell phone may be pre-programmed with a single button to call 911 in the event of an emergency and the button is activated while the phone is in the owner’s pocket.

Other accidental calls include persons cleaning their phone and hitting a pre-programmed 911 button, persons attempting to call Telephone Information (411) and dialling 911 instead.  Business locations which require dialling 9 for an outside phone line and hitting the 9 twice could set up an accidental 911 call. 

Police also deal with children who deliberately dial 911 as a joke or even adults who maliciously call in a false report or just dial the emergency number and run.  In 2011 three persons, two adults and one young person were charged with Criminal Mischief for calling in false reports.

Regardless of how the 911 call is made, police must respond, often with two officers to determine if someone needs assistance.  This resulted in officers spending over 240 hrs (six weeks of work) answering false 911 calls on the Bruce Peninsula alone in 2011.  Province wide the lost time would be in the tens of thousands of officer hours and each hour wasted could result in delayed responses to real emergencies or other reductions of community patrols or services by the police.

To help reduce false 911 calls, police would ask everyone to consider using the key guard option on their cell phones so accidental calls will not be made.  Keep phones out of reach of children who are too young to use them and really consider if speed dial is necessary to call 911 on your phone,

If you do dial 911 accidentally and it can happen, stay on the line and speak with the operator explaining what happened.  Hanging up, turning off your phone or ignoring the call back from the emergency operator will only increase the amount of time that is wasted by the officer locating you to determine that you are safe, particularly when the call is received from a mobile phone.  Either way, an officer will be attending to check on your well being, but if you have spoken with the emergency operator, it will save time, make it easier for the officer to locate you and allow the officer to attend in a less urgent manner.

Finally, 911 is only for emergencies, reporting a fire, calling for medical assistance or reporting a “crime in progress”.  If you need to contact the Ontario Provincial Police for a non-emergent reason such as reporting a found bicycle, calling in a theft which occurred sometime prior, please call the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.  This number works across Ontario and will put you in contact with the Communication Centre that supports your local OPP detachment. 

For administrative matters, calls can be placed to Bruce Peninsula Detachment, during regular office hours, at 519-534-1323.